F1 | Verstappen wins Montreal: Decisive battle in Canada

Summer in Canada, including rain and beautiful racing on Sunday. Verstappen won a true five-way exchange of blows ahead of Norris, who deserved more this time; And Russell, who was too sparkling and made mistakes that are difficult to digest Pole. He still finished on the podium ahead of Hamilton and Piastri; Any of the five could take a seat in the box. But Max was only worried about Lando. An earthly best sixth place returned for Alonso on a less exciting Sunday than previous ones but just as effective with the Aston Martin reversing the trend. The notable absentees in such a fierce battle were Ferrari: the double refusal of Sainz (due to an accident) and Leclerc (due to a breakdown), who did not strive for anything in the race. And at this rate they will not strive for this.

Rain started. The start took place after several layers of water and in very difficult conditions, on asphalt that initially had very poor grip. This suited two brave guys who installed extreme rain tires. Magnussen and Hulkenberg. both passed a dozen cars each within a few laps (but later returned to their natural positions, partly due to Haas’s disastrous stop with the Dane). In this initial confusion, little happened. Just a little touch from Gasly and Perez. Russell went ahead of Verstappen and McLarens. Alonso (then fifth) defended masterfully against Hamilton. And the differences quickly increased because the “splash” of water benefited those in front. Still, no one overtook.

Shiny circles from Norris

When the trail began to dry, a guy appeared who was touched by the stick. Norris began to fly. Verstappen went wide in the first corner, putting pressure on Russell, this Red Bull is not what it was. With DRS already engaged, Lando took advantage of the champion’s anxiety and threw the car at him in the chicane at the entrance to the finish with a force the Dutchman had rarely encountered. We were hunting. A lap later, on lap 20, he repeated the maneuver on Russell with the same flats. The speed was such that George became frustrated and lost the car through the loophole. When he returned to the track, he was overtaken by both McLaren and Verstappen. From the first to the third. The leader Toto Wolff wants to see at Mercedes is coming.

In that case, someone should have checked the walls of Montreal. Of course, it was Sargeant who crashed alone and forced the safety car out. He offered everyone the opportunity to change the intermediate tires to new ones, given that the rain had not completely stopped. So Norris was out of luck. The SC pulled away just as it had crossed the pit lane entrance, so it took another lap to stop. Verstappen and Russell beat him to this legal loophole, but not Piastri. Before the incident with Williams, Lando had an eleven second lead, stopped like everyone else and came out third instead of the leader. The career he had sought to dominate was becoming too difficult for him. What happens to him is karma. In Miami, the exact opposite happened.

McLaren tried again when the track dried out, delaying Norris’ stop for two laps in search of cut almost impossible about Max and George. He left pit road first, but skidded heavily due to frozen tires. Verstappen overtook him mid-corner. Russell, in turn. Although, what’s the matter, Russell, under the pressure of the young Englishman, swallowed the piano and lost second place. “Focus, George,” Wolf said over the radio in a message that was more humiliating than stimulating. What a day.

Sainz’s crash and 11-lap sprint

In this context, on lap 54 of 70, the last safety car arrived. On Sunday, in a black Ferrari, Sainz spun and lost control. Albon was unable to avoid him and they collided, leaving Williams in the worst position. Carlos, running 13th, arrived at the garage to leave. Leclerc has done this before, with engine problems and a car unable to overtake in the galley. There is a distance from Monaco to this.

Mercedes took a risk with “SC” and stopped two of its drivers with new tires for both in search of an unlikely comeback. There was still an eleven-lap sprint ahead, but it was important not to forget the obvious: at the Gilles Villeneuve, on a dry track, overtaking is usually not done. And the asphalt is already dry. Verstappen was therefore on his way to a hard-fought victory by three seconds over Norris. which was the fastest of the day, but not the winner. Russell completed the podium after another farce: he snuck in to try to pass Piastri, Hamilton overtook him, he ended up passing them both and even made up the score for the seven-time champion with a brilliant maneuver. Alonso finished sixth, ahead of Stroll, Ricciardo and the Alpine. The Spaniard’s race is a competition, he is very smart in looking for the best points. Sparks and hand-to-hand combat were ahead.